SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA
A film by Lourdes Portillo
SYNOPSIS
Señorita Extraviada(Missing Young Woman), a new documentary by Lourdes Portillo, unfolds like the unsolved mystery that it examines—the kidnapping, rape and murder of over 350 young women in Juárez, Mexico. Visually poetic, yet unflinching in its gaze, the film unravels the layers of complicity that have allowed these brutal murders to continue. Relying on what Portillo comes to see as the most reliable of sources—the testimonies of the families of the victims—Señorita Extraviada documents a two-year search for the truth in the underbelly of the new global economy. The result is a shocking and brutal portrait of Ciudad Juárez, “The City of the Future.”
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Señorita Extraviada is an investigation into the nature of truth, a truth that I have always found elusive in my documentary work and especially in this documentary about the sex-murders of hundreds of girls in a Mexican border town.
I ask myself why are poor young women so close to the U.S. left so forsaken? I feel that for me to stand by and witness these crimes without acting, I am being degraded morally, so I decided to act and focus my work in telling their harrowing tale. The story is told chronologically so as to make order out of chaos and misinformation. What emerges are undeniable truths in the courageous testimonies of the victims; their voices shed light on the fate of these innocent victims.
The labor of making this film is my offering to the hundreds of young women who have been sacrificed along the U.S. Mexican border. It tells a story of imposed terror and deadly silence as the new world of Globalization flourishes. My sincere hope is that the film and its power can indeed effect some change in the consciousness of the viewers.
—Lourdes Portillo
SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA
A film by Lourdes Portillo
FILM FESTIVALS
Sundance Film Festival
— Special Jury Prize
Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences in Mexico
— Ariel for Best Mexican Documentary
International Documentary Association's (IDA)
— Nomination Distinguished Documentary Achievement Awards
Human Right Watch New York Film Festival
— Nestor Almendros Prize
Thessaloniki Film Festival
— FIPRESCI Award to Best Foreign Film
Cinequest
— Audience Award for Best Documentary
Images Du Nouveau Monde
— Prix Tempete Radio-Canada Award for Best Feature Film
Festival International de Films De Femmes in Creteil
— Audience Award
Malaga Film Festival
—Grand Prize Best Documentary
Barcelona Human Rights Film Festival
— Gold Gandhi Award
Toronto International Film Festival
San Francisco International Film Festival
Chicago International Latino Festival
Cleveland International Film Festival
San Diego Latino Film Festival
San Antonio Cinefestival
Torino Film Festival
Goteborg Film Festival
SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA
A film by Lourdes Portillo
LIST OF INTERVIEWEES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
Eva Arce:Mother of Silvia who disappeared in 1998 (and is still missing).
Irene Blanco:Abdel Latif Sharif's defender.
Vickie Caraveo:Activist and founder of Mujeres Por Juárez (Women for Juárez).
Paula Flores:Mother of Sagrario who was murdered in 1998.
Judith Galarza:Executive Secretary of Latin American Federation Family of the Disappeared.
Guillermina González:Sister of Sagrario who was murdered in1998.
Jesús González:Brother of Sagrario who was murdered in 1998.
Felipe Nava:Father of María Isabel Nava who was murdered in 2000.
Gloria Vázquez:Mother of María Isabel Nava who was murdered in 2000.
Irma Pérez:Mother of Olga Alicia who was murdered in 1995.
Suly Ponce:Special Prosecutor for the Investigation of Murdered Women in the State of Chihuahua.
*MaríaVictim and survivor.
*Important note for the press: Because of the danger and threat that Maria may face in Juárez after the release of Señorita Extraviada, we have only provided her first name.
SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA
A film by Lourdes Portillo
CREDITS
Director and Producer
Lourdes Portillo
Edited by
Vivien Hillgrove
Cinematographer
Kyle Kibbe
Sound Recordist
Jose Araujo
Composer
Todd Boekelheide
Associate Producer/ Researcher
Gemma Cubero del Barrio
Production Manager
Celeste Carrasco Moreno
First Assistant Editor
Gabriela Quirós
Writers
Olivia Crawford
Julie Mackaman
Sharon Wood
Development Co-Producer
Jennifer Maytorena Taylor
Development Consultant
Julie Mackaman
Erica Marcus
Camera Assistants
Jerry Risius
Robert K. Pagliaro
Paul Marbury
Additional Video
Emiko Omori
Celeste Carrasco Moreno
Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdottir
Additional ProductionSound
Gabriel Coll - Barberis
John Haptas
Sound Supervisor
Re- Recording / Mixer
Lora Hirschberg
Sound Editor
Aura Gilge
Additional Picture
Goro Toshima
Assistant Editors
Shane King
Mimi Anderson
On-Line Editor
Greg Gilmore, Western Images
Colorist
Gary Coates, Western Images
Still Photographers
Gabriel Cardona
Ramiro Escobar Adame
Production Assistants
Joanne Polach
Carlos Scarlata
Drivers
Oscar Altamirano
Ramón Anaya
Manuel Duarte
Pedro Peña Favela
Fixer
Raúl Flores Simental
Translation
Gabriela Quirós
Jennifer Howard
Valle Translations
Subtitles
Gabriela Quirós
Lighting Equipment
Tortilla Productions
Dailies & Finishing Laboratory
DuArt Film and Video
Post Production Services
Skywalker Sound,
a division of Lucas Digital, LTD. Marin County, California.
Sound Services
provided by Bison Bison SF
Insurance
Dennis Reiff & Associates
US • 2001 • 74 minutes • Color
SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA
A film by Lourdes Portillo
KEY PERSONNEL
Lourdes Portillo (Producer/Director/Writer)
Lourdes Portillo was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and moved to the United States in 1960. She made her first film, a dramatic short called After the Earthquake, in 1979 and her most recent film, Corpus, a documentary about the late Tejana singer Selena, was released in 1999. Among the documentary, dramatic, experimental and performance films and videos she has made in between are the Academy Award-nominated Las Madres: The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo (1986), La Ofrenda: The Days of the Dead (1988), Vida (1989), Columbus on Trial (1992), Mirrors of the Heart for the PBS series, Americas (1993), The Devil Never Sleeps (1994), and Sometimes My Feet Go Numb and 13 Days, a multi-media piece for a nationally toured play by the San Francisco Mime Troupe (1997).
Kyle Kibbe(Director of Photography)
Kyle Kibbe is an award-winning cinematographer who has worked extensively on documentaries, features and music videos. His credits include American Dream by Barbara Kopple which won an Academy Award in 1990, Who Killed Vincent Chin? and Mississippi Triangle by Christine Choy, The Last Supper by Robert Frank, Haiti After Duvalierby Kim Ives, and The Devil Never Sleeps by Lourdes Portillo. Señorita Extraviadawas his fifth collaboration with Lourdes Portillo.
Vivien Hillgrove (Editor)
Vivien Hillgrove is a highly acclaimed editor whose extensive picture editing credits include Henry and Juneand The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Phil Kaufman. Her sound editing credits include Blue Velvet by David Lynch, Amadeus by Milos Foreman, which won 11 Academy Awards in 1984, and One From the Heartby Francis Coppola. Her documentary work includes Broken Rainbow by Victoria Mudd which won an Academy Award in 1985, and The Devil Never Sleeps by Lourdes Portillo. Señorita Extraviadawas her fifth collaboration with Lourdes Portillo.
Gemma Cubero (Associate Producer/ Researcher)
Gemma Cubero is a journalist educated in Spain and the United States. She has dedicated her last two years to investigate Señorita Extraviada (Missing Young Woman) directed by Lourdes Portillo. This is her first film as investigator and she is currently producing and directing her first documentary She wants to be a matador. In the past Ms. Cubero has worked as a freelance writer and fundraiser for independent filmmakers and nonprofit organizations in the Bay Area.
SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA
A film by Lourdes Portillo
LOURDES PORTILLO FILMOGRAPHY
Corpus: A Home Movie for Selena 1999
Tejana singer Selena was on the brink of crossover fame when her murder at age 23 catapulted her into mainstream celebrity. Filmmaker Lourdes Portillo gazes beyond the tabloids and points a sensitive lens on the cultural sensations that emerged around her life and death. A compassionate collage features starry-eyed Texas teens, rare interviews with Selena's family as well as outrageous and lively exchanges with Latina intellectuals who debate the value of her status as a role model. The film offers a fresh look at the voice and image of this uniquely enduring Mexican-American icon.
Sometimes My Feet Go Numb1994 1994
An impressionistic performance piece about the side effects of AIDS and hope.
El Diablo Nunca Duerme / The Devil Never Sleeps 1993
A feature documentary about an investigation of the death of my beloved Tio Oscar, which takes me back to my native Chihuahua, Mexico. The film is an attempt to mine the intersection between fact and fiction and analysis and autobiography. It is a combination of family gossip, local slander, fiction and melodrama stranger than telenovelas.
Declarations / Equality's Child1993
An eight-minute experimental video featuring civil rights activist and law professor Derrick Bell narrating a parable about equality.
Columbus On Trial1992
An 18-minute video. A political satire, with Culture Clash—the comedy trio. Verbal satire, physical comedy, and state-of-the-art video techniques are used to dramatize a faux-trial of Columbus in a present-day courtroom.
Mirrors of the Heart1992
A one-hour documentary for WGBH in Boston for The Americas, a ten-part series on Latin America broadcast in 1993. The film Mirrors of the Heart explores the notions of ethnic identity, filmed on the island of Hispaniola and in the highlands of Bolivia.
Vida1990
A short narrative film for AIDSFILMS that depicts the struggle of a young Latina woman in New York, coming to terms with the dangers of AIDS. Recipient of a Gold Award at the International Film and TV Festival in New York Cine Golden Eagle, and a Silver Apple at the National Educational Film Festival. Vida received an Honorable mention at the San Antonio Film Festival.
SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA
A film by Lourdes Portillo
LOURDES PORTILLO FILMOGRAPHY continued
La Ofrenda1990
A lyrical 16mm documentary film that portrays ten attitudes that Chicanos and Mexicans have towards death. The film has received several awards, including a Blue Ribbon from the American Film and Video Association, as well as Honors from the Independent Documentary Association, and the Latino Film Festival in San Antonio, Texas.
Las Madres De Plaza De Mayo1986
A one-hour documentary depicting the story of the mothers of the disappeared in Argentina. The mothers forced the military regime into accounting for their disappeared ones. Recipient of 20 National and International awards, including a 1986 Oscar nomination for Best Documentary, and an Emmy nomination.
Despues Del Terremoto1979
A 16mm half-hour narrative about a Nicaraguan maid trying to adapt to America and her dilemma over her impending marriage to a Nicaraguan revolutionary. Recipient of awards in Poland and Cuba.
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